A. I don’t think it’s reasonable to assume that scholars and theologians down through the ages have been misreading the scriptures, and I don’t think it’s likely that every one of the thousands of original language texts still in existence could have been altered in exactly the same way so as to deceive us. The Bible is clear in affirming the Trinity.  Your inference that the pagan religions started the idea and then Christianity copied it doesn’t hold water either. If you compare John 1 and Genesis 1 you find the Trinity present right from the very beginning.  And how do you explain that the first time the Hebrew word for God appears in the Bible, it’s a plural word?  The Bible never explains the Trinity, nor do I think the Lord expects us to understand how it’s possible, but I’m convinced He does expect us to believe it.

A. Maybe Paul can clear this up for us.

(Jesus) who being in very nature God,  did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross! (Phil 2:6-8)

I’m sorry to have confused you, but I never said that Jesus was not God in the flesh.  As Paul said above, Jesus was God, but when He came to Earth He became a man and purposely limited His abilities to those available to a man.  This is how He could say that we would do even greater things than He did (John 14:12), and this is why He didn’t know the details of His 2nd Coming, which is what prompted this line of questioning in the first place.

A. God appears to us in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit doesn’t speak in Scripture, but both Father and Son refer to each other by their titles.  For example, in Matt. 17:5 the Father said, “This is my son, whom I love …”, yet in Hebrews 1:8 He is quoted as calling Jesus God.  On the cross Jesus cried out to “My God” and often referred to God as His Father.  But throughout the New Testament, in the words of Jesus (John 10:30), John (John 1:1), and Paul (Col. 1:15-16) the fact that Jesus is God in the flesh is well documented.   In short, the Biblical evidence is compelling.  They are Father and Son and they are God.

A. In Genesis 1:3 the Holy Spirit is referred to as the Spirit of God. The phrase Spirit of God can also be found in Job 33:4, where He’s also called the Almighty.  In 1 Cor. 12:3 Paul used both Spirit of God and Holy Spirit in referring to the same person, and in Ephesians 4:30 he combined the two speaking of the Holy Spirit of God.

A.  1 John 5:7-8 is a controversial passage over which bitter arguments are held.  Some say the part of the passage which reads,  “in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” never appeared in any early manuscript and was added in the 1500’s at the insistence of the Catholic Church.  Others claim the reason it can’t be found in early manuscripts is because it was removed by people opposed to the doctrine of the Trinity. To me it’s an argument that leads nowhere, because neither side can offer conclusive proof to support their position.

In my opinion there is plenty of evidence for the Trinity in the Bible without getting stuck on the authenticity of  one verse. For example, you only have to read Genesis 1:1-2 and John 1:1-2 to see the three persons of the Trinity present from the moment of Creation. And a careful reading of the New Testament will confirm that all three are said to dwell within every believer.

As for 1 John 5:16-18 we’re responsible to pray for a believer we observe in the commission of a sin, asking the Lord to forgive him.   The exception is a sin that leads to death.  The only such sin is to deny that Jesus died for us.  There’s no forgiveness for that.  I believe that John was referring specifically to those who followed the Gnostic teaching of the day denying the deity of Jesus and saying that being a mere human He couldn’t have died for our sins.

But then why would He go to pray to another higher being?  This would seem to create more confusion than clarity, especially if we are to believe that all three are the same being.

A. When Jesus took on the form of a man, He operated independently of God
but was absolutely obedient to Him. (Philippians 2: 5-11).  Taking on the nature of a man He did what men do.  He prayed to the Father and performed His miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit.  That’s why He could truthfully say that we would be able to do even greater things than He did. (John 14:12)  Because of our faith in Jesus, we can pray to the Father and call on the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit.

Q. My mother, a former catholic, now born-again (praise GOD!) is having a terrible time understanding how Jesus can be God and God’s Son at the same time, and cannot at all comprehend how Mary became impregnated with Jesus. I have tried to explain it to her to the best of my ability, but she is still very confused and can’t understand. Would you please help me find the right words to help her understand? I would appreciate it so much. I appreciate what you do here so much and trust completely that you are led by The Holy Spirit. Thank you very much for your time and attention!

A. When God decided to confine Himself to human form in order to save humanity, He used the term Son of God to describe His human self. This comes from Psalm 2:7 where God said, “You are my Son, today I have become your Father.”

Colossians 1:19 says that God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Jesus in order to reconcile us to Him. Hebrews 1:3 says that the Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.

In John 4:4 Jesus said that God is a spirit. That means that the Father is God in His intangible form and the Son is God in His tangible form. The third component of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, connects them to each other and us to them.

In Luke 1:34-35 Mary asked how she could become pregnant since she was a virgin. The angel said that the Holy Spirit would “come upon” her. The Greek word that Luke used is the same one used in Acts to describe how other believers gained supernatural abilities. In Acts 10:44 the Holy Spirit came upon those who were listening to Peter enabling them to speak in tongues. The same thing happened in Acts 19:6 when Paul laid hands on some Gentile believers.

The point is that it was a supernatural act of the Holy Spirit that enabled Mary to become pregnant without the assistance of a man. Like the Trinity, the virgin birth is beyond our current understanding. Therefore we accept it in faith because God said it.

A. There’s more to it than anybody can see. The Trinity is beyond human comprehension, and the Bible never explains it. We’re only asked to believe it.

For example in John 1:1 speaking of Jesus, the disciple wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And in Genesis 1:2 the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters at the same time.

In John 10:30 Jesus said that He and the Father are one. Yet He often went away alone to pray to the Father, and did His miracles through the Holy Spirit. Some say that on the cross when Jesus cried, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” He was speaking to the other two.

When He left the Earth the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us, and yet we’re told that all three dwell in us. In 1 Cor. 3:16 we’re called God’s Temple. In 1 Cor 6:15 Paul said that our bodies are the members of Christ Himself, and in John 17:32 Jesus claims to be in us. In 1 Cor. 6:19 we’re called the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and Ephes. 1:13-14 says that the Holy Spirit is sealed within us.

After the Rapture we’ll understand, but for now we just have to believe.

Q. God in three Persons. Is each part of the Trinity called a “Person” because each one has a distinctive personality or is there another reason? How can you call a Spirit a Person?

A. Each member of the Trinity has a unique personality, but I think the phrase “God in three persons” came as a result of someone’s inability to communicate the concept of the Trinity within the framework of man’s understanding in any better way.

There’s also the matter of personal pronouns being used to refer to them in the original languages, and the fact that personal attributes like speaking and hearing are attributed to them.

Q. First of all thank you so much for your website, I read it daily. In fact I used your explanation of the 7 miracles of Christ’s in John in a small Christmas celebration with my children. We lite one candle a night for 7 nights. Each candle represented 1 miracle. So at the end of the 7 nights, we had 7 candles burning and my children and I had gone over each of the 7 miracles. We had the opportunity to review Christ’s purpose for coming as we celebrated His birth.

My problem in understanding the trinity really comes because Christ is characterized as a separate being many times in the Bible. When He manifested Himself to Moses, and when He sits at the right hand of the Father being just two situations. Are the father and son (and holy spirit) only one in purpose or are they one in species, or are they in fact only one in being.

A. While the Bible never explains exactly how it works, The notion of one God in three persons, Father, Son, And Holy Spirit is central to Christian belief. Nowhere in the Bible is this explained in a way that brings understanding to our human minds with their inherent limitations.

They are not just one in purpose or in species, but are one in being. Especially where Jesus is concerned, there is great emphasis on the fact that Father and Son are one, with Jesus being the visible image of the invisible God, as Paul put it in Colossians 1:15. Hebrews 1:8-9 has God calling Jesus God. John 1:1-2 agrees, and Jesus Himself said so in John 10:30.